The Mexican Senate President's Model To Regulate Cannabis: 'There Is No Room For Prohibitionist Policies'

By Franca Quarneti, via El Planteo.

“There is no room for prohibitionist policies. We are the Mexico of freedoms.”

In the context of the Forum “The regulation of cannabis and the opportunities for the development of a hemp industry in Mexico”, said Olga Sánchez Cordero, president of the Mexican Senate, and assured that a model for the regulation of cannabis in Mexico is being built.

Sánchez Cordero affirmed that the regulation of the marijuana plant would eliminate the prohibitionist approach that increased violence in the country. A regulatory framework would contribute to guaranteeing the safety and control of cannabis use.

“We are convinced that recreational use is only a very small part of the potential of its regulation. That is why forums like this are important, allowing us to reflect on the other benefits that cannabis regulation can bring,” she said.

Likewise, as reported by Milenio, Sánchez Cordero noted that it is important to take into account international experiences to promote the cannabis social economy and value chain.

“Overcoming the formalistic obstacles of the past is not an easy task, but I have full confidence that in this Legislature we can achieve it, to regulate and implement consumption measures for behaviors that have been practiced for many years, and open new economic markets that allow our country to grow”, declared the legislator of the Morena party.

“We will continue to raise awareness in our population, where there is no room for prohibitionist policies. We are the Mexico of freedoms and the people are aware of it,” she concluded.

Olga Sánchez Cordero, much more than a pro-cannabis senator

Olga Sánchez Cordero is a 74-year-old lawyer and civil servant who is part of the ruling Morena political party.

Sánchez Cordero stood out for having been the first female notary public in Mexico and the ninth nominated to join the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, between 1995 and 2015.

She filed a bill in the Mexican Senate to regulate the consumption and control of the plant.

“Two hundred and forty thousand dead, 40 thousand disappeared in 10 years, in addition to thousands of boys and girls, young people and women threatened by organized crime and become cannon fodder. These numbers are unacceptable and justify rethinking drug policy in our country. It's time to change. We do not want more deaths, regardless of whether they are police, military, drug traffickers, we do not want more collateral victims, we do not want families in mourning, we do not want more blood in our homeland, it is a war that continues killing us,” the senator stated at the time.

More recently, in 2018, she served as head of the Secretary of the Interior of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, being the first woman to hold that position. In 2021, she resigned from her position to rejoin Morena's parliamentary group in the Senate to support the government's "priority reforms."

In 2021, the Mexico City native declared that she was against women being imprisoned for having an abortion. During an interview, she said: “You do not know why she makes that decision, you are nobody to judge why she makes that decision, and I will continue to defend, until death, that women should not go to jail for this".

Photo: EneasMx, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons // Edited in Canva by El Planteo.